New Year's Eve revelers: Get ready for one polar party

Yikes. It could feel like -10 degrees at midnight in Times Square on New Years.

Author:
John Bacon, USA TODAY

Published:
4:08 PM EST December 27, 2017

Updated:
4:08 PM EST December 27, 2017

All the drinks will be on ice for this party.

Revelers in New York's Times Square could face the coldest New Year's Eve celebration in more than 50 years as a brutal wave of arctic air tightens its iron grip on much of the nation.

"We are predicting 11 degrees at midnight in Times Square that will feel like minus-10 degrees," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Walker warned. "But everybody from the Rockies eastward is going to experience severe cold through the end of 2017 and into 2018."

The 11 degrees would tie for the second-coldest New Year's Eve on record, matching the temperature in 1962, Walker said. Time Square was a record 1 degree above 0 for the party in 1917.

Winds of up to 20 mph will add to woes facing this year's partiers, Walker said. But few cities will be spared. Boston is looking at 8 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of -21. Chicagoans can look forward to a relatively balmy 9 degrees that will feel like -3. Even Atlanta will be freezing: 29 degrees that will feel like 24.

“People will really need to bundle up if they are heading out Sunday night for New Year's Eve celebrations in places like Chicago, for example, where the high will be 15 F on Sunday, around 15 degrees below normal,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski warned.

Gusty winds and frigid air will conspire over the next couple of days to bring nasty weather to the region. Wind-chill advisories were in effect for parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, AccuWeather said.

New Yorkers should get used to the cold. AccuWeather is calling for 11 straight days where the city's high stays below freezing. New York City's Emergency Management agency issued a warning for extreme cold and published a guide on social media that urged residents to wear layers and keep their ears covered.

The guide also lists frostbite symptoms, such as discolored skin and numbness.

Skiers in New England could face temperatures near minus 30 degrees as an "expansive portion" of the Northeast faces frostbite-ready conditions, AccuWeather said.

Wind-chill advisories or warnings are in effect for all of North Dakota and Wisconsin as well as swaths of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Indiana. Green Bay, Wis., woke up to -13 degrees. Minneapolis struggled to break above 0 degrees as noon approached — while it was still -10 in Fargo, N.D.

The severe cold swept through the region as much of the northern tier was fending off the final assault of a snow barrage that dumped a record 34 inches of snow on Erie, Pa., on Christmas Day. Including snow in the days before the holiday and another wall of white on Tuesday, the area has seen about 63 inches since Saturday.

The city of Erie declared a snow emergency, citing "dangerous and impassable" roads:

"This is an incredible amount of snow that we're trying to move and appreciate resident cooperation."

The snow isn't done. Another blast is forecast for Thursday in places such as Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, AccuWeather said.

Earlier this week, meteorologists theorized the storm could join up with another storm off the Atlantic coast over the coming weekend to bring heavy snow to parts of New York state and New England. Now, that appears unlikely, he said.

"It is looking less and less likely that those storms are going to hook up in New York state," said Walker, who suggested that New Yorkers would be disappointed at the news. "If it's going to be that cold, you might as well have some snow with it."